Currently, Colorado and Washington state have legalized recreational marijuana, and 21 states and the District of Columbia have legalized it for medicinal use.

As laws for recreational marijuana make their way to the books, people are cashing in on cannabis. Silicon Valley is no exception, according to a recent article by WIRED senior writer Matt Honan.

“The entire tech-industrial complex is getting in on the action: investors, entrepreneurs, biotechnologists, scientists” and more, writes Mat Honan, senior writer at WIRED, in his latest story “High Tech: How Silicon Valley entrepreneurs are rushing to cash in on cannabis.”

From well designed vaporizers invented by former Apple executives to sustainable LED lights to feed marijuana plants, we’re building a new industry with much bank to be had. Tech companies are looking into point-of-sale software for dispensaries and management software for recreational marijuana growers.

Medical innovation is another aspect of the industry and it’s changing the face of medical marijuana, said Honan in an interview with the Daily Ticker. The Stanley Brothers, for example, have come up with a strain of marijuana that’s high is CBD, which is helpful for treating epilepsy patients, and low in THC, the part of marijuana that gets you high. The Stanley Brothers have invented this new strain to treat a form of pediatric epilepsy without all the side effects of harsh medications. It’s marijuana purely for medical reasons. Medical marijuana has formerly been known as a gateway to legalization.

But where does the funding come from when banks still won’t deal in marijuana because it’s illegal under federal law?

“We call that touching the sun,” says Justin Hartfield, an investor with the cannabis-focused Ghost Group, a Newport Beach, California, firm that is raising $25 million in investment capital. “If you’re manufacturing a schedule 1 narcotic—growing it, infusing it with other products—you’re touching the sun.” And you’re liable to get burned.

But, Hartfield said to WIRED, there’s still hundreds of millions of dollars to be made on this burgeoning industry. It was one argument for those that wished to legalize marijuana that’s turned out thus far to be entirely accurate.

According to WIRED:

For the science and technology set, it’s a classic opportunity to disrupt an industry historically run by hippies and gangsters. And the entire tech-industrial complex is getting in on the action: investors, entrepreneurs, biotechnologists, scientists, industrial designers, electrical engineers, data analysts, software developers.

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In a time of financial, social and ecological challenges, there’s no excuse for the War on Drugs.

Unless you’re a Central-American druglord or have a vested financial interest in the privatized prison complex, you likely agree that the U.S. “War on Drugs” is an unequivocal failure. Since the early ’70s, the federal government has funneled a staggering one trillion dollars into stamping out the drug trade, but by all accounts, the black market for banned substances flourishes, fresh blood spills in brutal trafficking conflicts, and jails burst at the seams with nonviolent offenders.

What if the U.S. decriminalized drugs and put an end to this unwinnable war? In what ways could we usefully redistribute the inconceivable amount of money that would suddenly be freed up? I’m a writer, not a wonk, but my proposals are no more far-fetched than the existing (and embarrassing) status quo. And top narcotics experts agree. From safer streets to healthier people to greener cities, I’d like to offer seven things our tax dollars could do instead of funding the War on Drugs:

1. Treat Addiction as a Public Health Issue.

Tobacco and alcohol are two of the world’s most addictive and deadly substances. The damage to personal and community health far surpasses that of any illicit drug. And yet, the U.S. already tried banning alcohol. Remember Prohibition? It didn’t work. In fact, when alcohol was pushed underground, its profits shot through the roof. Why is it that we still employ prohibition on other substances if it doesn’t work? Instead of criminalizing people strung-out on crack, why not make an investment in public health to cure and rehabilitate our population, rather than further degrading sick people by putting them into a violent, isolating prison system? The Bureau of Prisons reports that the annual cost for treatment from a drug court costs as little as $900, while locking somebody up in a Federal prison runs a hefty $25,000. What would you rather your tax dollars fund?

2. Super-Maximum Skate Parks.

With the mass release of approximately 400,000 drug offenders from America’s federal and state penitentiaries, these facilities would suddenly be empty of inmates. It wouldn’t make sense to let these concrete structures go to waste, so why not transform them into indoor skate-parks? The rails, ramps, and runways come pre-installed. Instead of locking up rebellious youth, let them skate, which can actually reduce crime rates among at-risk kids by providing them with a constructive outlet and bonding opportunities. And, while you’re at it, issue an open invitation for all the graffiti artists to decorate.

3. Mobilize a Green Army.

Currently, we have a $10 billion army executing the drug war. Why not repurpose these forces as an army that’s mobilized to fight the environmental crisis? All the prison guards, border guards, and drug-enforcement agents could be conscripted; these jobs could also be opportunities for rehabilitated addicts to reintegrate into the workforce. Our green service men and women could be doing positive work to “protect our country” as an eco-development mega-army. Instead of buying automatic-weapons and Hummers to battle drug gangs, we could purchase supplies to install solar panels, low-flush toilets, and motion-sensitive light-fixtures. We could build massive wind-turbine fields and organic, permaculture farms. We could construct inner-city urban gardens that produce fresh fruits and vegetables for low-income communities.

4. Get off Your Ass & Groove.

A nation is only as healthy as its body politic. Today, the American people suffer from an epidemic of lifestyle diseases: diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease, and more. Our culture is one of too much cheap food and too little physical activity. Instead of throwing good money after bad into the futile war on drugs, what if we were instead creating health-based infrastructures that would promote lifelong wellness? Bike-secure causeways along primary traffic lanes, free bike-share programs to encourage alternative transportation, modern gymnasium facilities within walking distance of major neighborhoods, outdoor swimming pools, public dance halls with free tango lessons, on-site office yoga classes. Too bad we don’t have enough money to implement these sorts of programs; our government is too busy spending hundreds of millions to crop-dust coca farms in Columbia with carcinogenic herbicides.

5. Oxycotin Obstruction.

Prescription drugs like Oxycotin and Vicodin kill more people than all illegal drugs combined. The New York Times reports that legal pharmaceuticals kill three times as many people as illegal drugs. Pharmacies across the country are instituting heavy security to protect their supply (and employees), from desperate, violent addicts. Maybe we could use some drug war loot to create a national registry for prescription drugs, so that people can’t go “doctor shopping?” In many states, there’s no system for stopping an addict from visiting multiple doctors who prescribe multiple prescriptions, which the patient in turn sells on the street for $80 per pill, or else just ingests with abandon until he overdoses. Right now, Governor Jeb Bush is blocking prescription-drug registries in Florida because he thinks they cost too much and are an invasion of privacy. I wonder if political contributions from pharmaceutical companies have anything to do with this?

6. Meditation Mandates.

Imagine for a moment an overcrowded, notoriously violent correctional facility just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. It is filled with rapists, murderers, and other perpetrators of brutal, vicious crimes. The facility is so violence-riddled that an ongoing lawsuit claims conditions here are so dangerous they violate prisoners’ constitutional rights. Wouldn’t you be surprised if one of the inmates here, a man serving life without parole, exudes calm, saying that he claims responsibility for his crime and has cultivated inner peace? He’s not alone. A novel, in-prison intervention program in San Francisco is transforming lives from the inside out through Buddhist group meditation practice hosted several times a week. As a result of this pilot, another life-without-parole inmate says, “I had a lot of anger issues, and this has given me a way to deal with it.” This model could be instituted on a broad scale in prisons and schools for a wide swath of at-risk populations, helping people cultivate self control, while reducing violence and the lure to self-medicate.

7. Fabric of Society.

Public pensions, health care, bridges, education, state parks, clean water. We should restore funding for all that stuff we’re cutting that’s essential for a functioning society. Why haven’t we heard anything about cutting drug war funds? Why is it we talk about getting rid of NPR, PBS, Planned Parenthood, the NEA, and food stamps before calling to attention the exponentially more money wasted on drug enforcement? Currently, the biggest cash-crop in our country (cannabis), goes untaxed, while the fourth-largest cause for imprisonment is marijuana-related. Why are we letting drug lords reap the profits rather than funding our public schools with the proceeds? As Prohibition and current conditions demonstrate, people will continue to use, so why not let them do so to a useful, civic-minded end?

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Growing up in the industrial Midwest, “California Dreaming” was more than just a song. It was an homage to someplace totally “other” – a shining state on the Pacific, full of light and beauty and forward-looking promise. When it came on the radio everyone immediately forgot what they were doing and sang of being “safe and warm.” It was mild all the time there, it seemed, and they had great pot, a governor called Moonbeam, and even solar power. If I just follow the sun, I thought, I’ll end up there.

While I took a crazily circuitous route, I did, in fact, follow the sun and about 15 years ago settled in just north of San Francisco. Though I’d been coming out here since I was a kid, and had experienced firsthand the progressive gestalt of the “mellow state,” it quickly became apparent to me as a new resident that all was not what I thought it would be. In many ways, massive California functions as a nation unto itself, as divided as any, as susceptible to reactionary thinking, bigotry and good old stupidity as anyplace else. In my time here, I’ve seen some horrendous political “leadership,” antisocial anti-tax measures and, most recently, Proposition 8, banning gay marriage. I often think to myself, where is progressive California? Was it ever even real?

When fits of Golden State cynicism arise, I can usually stop and meditate (yes, I learned to do that in California), and do a quick Cali gut check. Let’s do one now: Three reasons California is still cool.

Medical Marijuana and Marijuana Marijuana

NYT – October 1: A month before California voters decide the fate of a ballot initiative that would legalize marijuana, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill that essentially puts those caught possessing small amounts of the drug on the same level as those caught speeding on the freeway.

I’ve always believed that the nation’s marijuana laws are cruel and unusual – and inane – from both the standpoint of its medical potential and its “hey, man, chill with this” benefits. I also have a bit of a libertarian streak in me that says: “Leave me the hell alone if I want to put something in my body that evidence shows is merely really not too good for me and for which basic precautions can be taken to make sure no one but me is going to get hurt.”

But in the end, it’s not about the party. It’s about sound transactional taxation policy (economic sense) and getting our arms around prosecution and incarceration abuses that are way out of hand (resource management and simple compassion). As an ex-user, I may not get there with you, but its time has come. Despite the fact the state-wide Proposition 19, which would legalize marijuana for recreational use, may go down to (perhaps narrow) defeat, it won’t be too long before the craziness around this issue will finally come to an end – and it will happen in California.

Keeping Cool on the Climate

NYT – October 5: A measure to suspend [California’s] vanguard climate change law is heading for failure, by a margin of 49 percent to 37 percent, because voters see the law doing more economic good than harm, a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday showed.

Part of what makes this so cool is another headline: “Billionaire Koch brothers back suspension of California climate law” (LA Times, September 2). The law, AB 32 or the Global Warming Solutions Act, requires that one-third of California’s electricity come from renewable sources by 2020 (less than a quarter does today). The “hold off” measure, Proposition 23, was initially brought to us courtesy of funding from two Texas refiners, who have recently been joined by these maniac brothers, Charles and David, major tea-party enablers who operate oil refineries in states, you’ve guessed it, other than California. These two love to throw wads of cash at climate change deniers and renewable energy opponents. So welcome to California, guys. Boo-yah!

Like the marijuana issue, the progressive angle here is not about some Cali-hip movement. AB 32 limits greenhouse gas emissions and is creating a massive market for renewable energy, including solar, wind and other sources. According to polls, people are getting the money/jobs angle on all this and see California’s economic redemption as inexorably tied to being the global leader in the green economy. According to the NYT, the state “won 49 percent of the sector’s U.S. venture capital funding in the most recent quarter.” Of course, let’s check back in on this after Election Day, but it seems we’re seeing the forest for the trees on this one.

I Now Pronounce You…

SF Chronicle – September 3: The outlook for the legal defense of Proposition 8, California’s ban on same-sex marriage, grew cloudier Thursday as a state appellate court refused to order Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown to appeal a federal judge’s ruling overturning the measure.

The recent record on this one is not good. The passage of Proposition 8 (52.3 percent “yes,” 47.7 percent “no”) was nothing short of a disgrace for civil rights history. But while that speaks to pervasive homophobia in our society as whole (and perhaps also to ways in which the approach of legislation by initiative is so terribly flawed), it seems that our court system, our Republican governor and our Democratic attorney general know an assault – not to mention affront – to our nation’s Constitution when they see one.

Here’s the drill on this case: The Court of Appeal “dismissed without comment” a lawsuit, filed on behalf of a Los Angeles-area minister, seeking to require the state to defend the initiative after it was struck down as unconstitutional by a U.S. District Court in August. Both Brown and Schwarzenegger refused to defend it in federal court. Next up is a federal appeals court date in December when arguments will be heard on the sponsors’ legal standing and on the measure’s constitutionality.

California’s history, though stained by the passing of Proposition 8, remains at the forefront of civil rights for homosexuals. While the courts sort it out, I’m going to go ahead and remain hopeful that this measure will meet its doom.

This concludes our one-two-three listicle for your Cali consideration. Each one of these issues has key decisions coming up in the near future (two major ballot measures and one federal court case), so we’ll be keeping the pulse on California Cool as we go. In the meantime, I remain bullish on the Cal bear. And I still smile every time I cross the Golden Gate Bridge.

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On the subject of e-cars: We’ve had back to back to back news, so I thought it good to let the topic bake for a bit while we wait for the public reception of the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, and others.

But”¦

This is way too cool to pass up. Just in from the Great Green North: an e-car made of pot! (Well, hemp, but you know the drill. Hemp, pot, same diff when it comes to headlines!)

Says CBC News (and, of course, 420 Magazine), the car, which will be made into a prototype this month by Calgary-based Motive Industries, is called the Kestrel and is doubling down on the green factor. Its body will be comprised of “impact-resistant composite material” made from mats of hemp – which, by the way, will be locally harvested in Vegreville, Alberta. (Gotta love the homegrown.) The car will be a compact designed for four dudes/dudettes, including the driver, and will top out at just over 55 mph. Its range will vary from 25 miles to 100 miles, depending on the type of battery.

The Kestrel is part of Project Eve, a Canadian non-profit collaboration aimed at increasing that country’s production of electric vehicles and components. And guess who’s gonna be helping out with the pot car? College kids! Students at polytechnic schools in Alberta, Quebec and Toronto will help roll these babies out the door and into the hands of parktakers sometime next year when the first twenty are due to be dealt.

Using hemp to build a car is “not an original idea,” says Motive Industries President Nathan Armstrong. Henry Ford, in fact, experimented with the not-so-evil weed in 1941 when he created a hemp-bodied car. The vehicle – pictured below – was fueled on the stuff, too. CarDomain has a video of the indestructo-prototype.

Today, however, with a renewed emphasis on reducing weight while not giving up on strength, hemp makes sense. It doesn’t take a lot of energy to make (sunshine, soil and a little love, bra) and isn’t as fancy pants as fibreglass and carbon-fiber-based racecar material, which requires all kinds of heat and chemical wizardry to produce.

“As a structural material, hemp is about the best,” says Armstrong. The CBC notes: “It [hemp] has about twice the strength of other plant fibres. It doesn’t require much water or pesticide use, and grows well in Canada, providing a high yield per hectare.”

“Plus,” says Armstrong, showing some true patriot love, “it’s illegal to grow it in the U.S., so it actually gives Canada a bit of a market advantage!”

Yeah, well, I live in Northern Cali, man. You wanna talk advantage?

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Some say hemp is the fiber of the future. And some like to point out that hemp has been around for as long as women have been gathering and men hunting. The use of hemp dates back 10,000 years, when hemp textile industries began in Europe and Asia. Gautama Buddha ate hemp seeds in 500 BC and hemp paper was invented in China in 100 BC. The English word for “hempe” was first listed in 1000 AD. And in 1776, the American Declaration of Independence was drawn up on hemp paper.

History lesson aside, why does it then seem like hemp has just appeared on the market? Most likely, it is because Americans associate the plant with marijuana and 1960s hippies. Hemp and marijuana are both varieties of the Cannabis sativa plant – except hemp will not get you high, as it contains less than one percent THC. (Marijuana contains up to 20 percent.) It is highly sustainable and requires very little pesticides. Over 25,000 products can be made from hemp, including shampoo, carpets, paper, and more.

Luckily, the tide of public acceptance seems to be turning for hemp. The green world is awash in hemp-i-tude! Hemp seed oil is known to be extremely hydrating, as its composition most resembles skin’s natural lipids. It is an anti-inflammatory that helps with the healing of acne, and is high in amino acids and essential fatty acids. Not to mention, it is great on your hair.

And a really great hemp product? That would be the Hemp Exfoliating Face Cloth from North American Hemp Company. This cloth, retailing for around $6, is made from 100 percent organic hemp fibers. And if you want a good eco-scrub, then this is the product for you. The packaging is made from 100 percent recycled content, it is cruelty free, vegan, and is 100 percent certified organic. (Though by who, I cannot discern.)

The hemp cloth claims to “bring superior exfoliating ability to reveal newer more radiant skin cells without the hyper-abrasion or overly-irritating the delicate skin on your face.” Does it? Yes – if you are looking for a good yet not too overbearing scrub cloth, I’d highly recommend it.

Just don’t try to smoke it afterwards.

FTC Compliance

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Barack Obama’s website, Change.gov, opened a public forum in which 10,000 people asked questions about the future of America. The top question was not about the environment. It was not about the budget or the bailout. It was not even about the war in Iraq or terrorism. It was this:

“Will you consider legalizing marijuana so that the government can regulate it, tax it, put age limits on it, and create millions of new jobs and create a billion dollar industry right here in the U.S.?”

Apparently, a lot of Americans are fed up with the disastrous and ineffective Drug War. Have we learned nothing from the failure that was alcohol Prohibition in the 1920s? Whether or not you believe in recreational marijuana use, a bit of digging around will lead you to studies proving cannabis’ effectiveness as a safe and natural medicine, an excellent superfood in the form of hempseed and a viable fiber for clothing, paper, biofuel and more.

As an ecologically-aware, socially-conscious American, I firmly support changing our nation’s view of marijuana from that of a “menacing drug” to that of a highly useful plant. Growing and processing legal cannabis for medicine and hemp would stimulate our economy, put struggling farmers back to work, and requires virtually no chemical pesticides or fertilizers. Such a bold move would provide thousands of jobs right here in the country – no outsourcing necessary.

Here’s some cannabis trivia: the suffix “sativa,” of marijuana’s scientific name Cannabis sativa, comes from the Latin root meaning “cultivated,” shared by so many other common plants such as oats (Avena sativa), garlic (Allium sativa) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa). Can’t be all that bad, now can it?

Although naysayers may come up with many arguments against legalizing cannabis, many of those arguments fall flat when further analyzed.

Myth: Won’t people just be able to go to hemp fields and gather plants for getting high? The fact is, hemp is so low in THC that you’d have to smoke a ridiculously, nauseatingly large amount of it to get high. No one would even bother. Trust me.

Myth: Farming hemp for fiber could turn into a coverup for growing potent marijuana. Anyone trying to hide their potent strains of marijuana amidst the fields of hemp would be wasting their time: the plants cross-pollinate and always result in weaker strains. Any experienced marijuana grower would keep their plants far, far away from a hemp field.

Myth: Legalizing marijuana would create a druggie free-for-all. Not so. The Netherlands legalized marijuana for recreational purposes in the 1970s and statistically they have less marijuana use and abuse than the United States. Marijuana is sold in coffee shops and the “thrill” of doing something illegal has been taken out of it. Also, cannabis smokers never have to do business with a “drug dealer,” which means they’re not exposed to other, potentially harder drugs.

Myth: There’s no market for hemp products in the United States. The biggest thing keeping hemp on the fringes is the price. Because hemp has to be imported into the U.S. from other countries, prices stay high. But if hemp were grown Stateside, prices would be competitive and hemp-based food, clothing and paper could enter the mainstream market and its superior quality would simply prove itself. And all those new hemp farms and hemp-related businesses would need managers and employees, thus creating a great many jobs literally overnight.

Myth: It’s unacceptable to use marijuana as a medicine because it makes the patient high. Many legal and acceptable medicines make patients high. Have you ever been prescribed Vicodin by your dentist? Or Codeine for severe pain? The nice thing about marijuana is that it is not addictive and much easier on the body and the liver. Besides, much of medical marijuana advocacy has focused on providing cannabis to AIDS and cancer patients, to aid them with severe nausea. Considering the severity of their disease and the harsh treatments most of these patients go through, inhaling some smoke and “feeling high” is a small price to pay for relief.

Myth: Legalizing marijuana would increase crime. The biggest crime committed by most marijuana smokers is simply buying and using the plant itself. Marijuana does not make people violent or cause them to lose control of their senses, leading them into unconscious criminal rampage. Nope. Take away the  criminality of growing or possessing marijuana and a large number of “criminals” would simply be the normal, productive citizens they already are. According to a PBS interview with Eric Schlosser, 1 in 6 Americans in prison are there on marijuana-related charges (including simple possession), wasting taxpayer money and taking up prison space.

Myth: Marijuana prohibition keeps it out of the hands of our youth. Wrong again. Despite the War On Drugs, marijuana has remained easily available to high schoolers for decades, usually because it is sold to them by their own fellow students. If marijuana were legalized, it would be regulated in much the same way as alcohol, sold only in certain types of shops and require an age limit to purchase. This would certainly make it more difficult for young people to acquire.

Any other questions or concerns? Feel free to start a discussion! We’d love to hear what you have to say.

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